Alright. It is time to snowboard again. The only problem is that my snowboard bud is recovering from a torn ACL from skateboaring. He had surgery the first week of august and says he is almost there. My question is how many of you have had the same injury? How long did it take until you could ride again? Im dying to go but I dont want to push him to soon, only to have the knee get reinjured and be out the whole winter. His doc cleared him for his manual laborish job but thats nothing like snowboarding. Let me hear what you guys know from your experiences.

my doc said 4-6 months to be healed but i have read/heard somewhere that sometimes it can take up to a year to be fully healed. i would assume that healing time would depend on the type of reconstruction surgery (cadaver acl, patellar tendon, hamstring or muscle), how much rehab one does and the individual. i had patellar tendon reconstruction surgery in march and it feels pretty good. i have not had a chance to ride yet b/c there is no snow here in lower michigan.

My friend has torn both of his, one of them twice. The first time he was right at about 6 months before he could do normal/conservative riding and the when he blew his right the second time it was close to a year before he could ride at all.

I have a buddy that has torn his in university playing basketball... he's torn an ACL and had a ligament issue with the other knee..

This was 5 years ago, and last year when he went boarding with me (he's a n00b) after 1/2 a day he said he was hurtin pretty good. Mind you, he's new to the sport so he was falling a bit, but he also had his brace on.

He wears his brace to play all sports... personally; I'd take the year off from boarding if I had a torn ACL... its the worst sports injury you can have cuz it takes SO long to heal, and your knee is never the same.

i tore my acl playing college football...im sure its gunna hurt when i get out there but i try to continually build the muscles around my knee so im straight after a couple days!! ill keep an update though on how to stay strong!

I have torn my ACL in my left knee twice (damn you college soccer!!!) and had reconstruction done the last time in 01. I just make sure I wear my knee brace (the one from the orthopaedist, not a cheapie) and haven't had a problem. The surgeon told me that with that brace on if I damaged my knee again I had ripped my leg completely off. Only problem I have is if I ride switch at all (I am regular not goofy) it kills my left knee to be in back. I guess just that extra pressure and angle on it. Biggest warning is don't go if you will be tentative. The more you play scared, the more you risk injury. Thats the whole reason I tore mine the second time.

In case anyone is wondering, we went this weekend. 4 months after surgery, his knee held up fine. He was able to do whatever he wanted to, but he stayed away from the kickers and such. We rode for about 6 hours. He said it felt a little weird but no pain except for the usual sorness from the first time. I think I was worried more than he was. Anywho thanks for the input.

Mike, reading your response encourages my spirits somewhat. I just found out today that I tore my ACL and meniscus. Being that its Nov 18, 6 months from now brings me to April 18 and on the east coast thats a mute point. I was really looking forward to this years boarding season because last winter I tore my meniscus and I missed EVERYTHING! Record snow in Vermont/NH and a ski trip out in Boulder with some fellas. With that said, is there any chance in being able to do some casual boarding, coasting the green and blue runs, or am I pretty much screwed? Anyone out there run into the same situation that can shed some light on my dark winter? Mike, did your boy run into any issues after the trip?

Just please please please be careful. A torn ACL takes a deceptively long time to heal. It depends on the severity, but you can be out for a year with that kind of injury. I know it really sucks, but if you re-injure it, you could be out even longer. I say listen to the doc and do what you feel you're capable of, but don't push it.

I had a friend who played college football at Purdue. He was the kicker and tore his ACL. He came back, against recommendations, after 4 months and ruined his leg. Lost his scholarship and everything. Not that you have that kind of stuff at stake, but you get the idea.